A 12-year-old-boy was arrested late Friday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for his alleged role in a plot to shoot police officers, The Times-Picayune reported.
Three others were arrested for the same alleged plot on Tuesday, less than two weeks after police shot and killed Alton Sterling in the same city, prompting a series of protests.
The boy is the fourth suspect in an ongoing investigation into a gun robbery that took place last week. One of the suspects told officers that they planned to the weapons to harm officers during protests, according to police.
Last Sunday, during protests over Sterling's death, city police entered violent confrontations with protesters. Baton Rouge police showed up "wielding batons, carrying long guns and wearing shields," the AP reported. That, too, was caught on video.
About 200 protesters were arrested over a three-day period. The Louisiana branch of the ACLU has since filed a lawsuit against the department.
A mourner wears a CD around his neck as he attends the funeral of Alton Sterling, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 15, 2016. Sterling was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police officers while selling CDs in front of a convenience store. Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
The arrest of the boy took place the same day as Sterling's funeral, which was held in a 7,500 seat arena.
In the aftermath of violence, children can develop pent-up depression and anger that manifests in "panic attacks and breakdowns," relatives of men and women killed by police told the Times.
A 2013 report by the American Psychological Association found that children who view violence in the media may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others and more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior.
For young black people confronted with videos of police violence on social media television, those images are all the more personal, Shante Needham, a sister of Sandra Bland's, told the Times.
"They are aware of what's going in the world, of how you can leave your house and you can very well end up in a body bag," Needham said of her children. "They watch the news. They see all the stuff going on on Facebook. And it's sad that kids even have to think like that, that if I get stopped by the police, I may not make it home."